Critical U.S. drug shortage worsening

The nation is facing an unprecedented drug shortage.

From cancer treatments to surgical sedatives to standard emergency-room remedies, the pharmaceutical supply cabinet is increasingly bare of the drugs of choice, according to doctors, advocacy groups, and the FDA.

Industry consolidation, random and unpredictable manufacturing problems, and simple economics, they say, have conspired to narrow the pipeline that delivers needed drugs to the point where shortfalls of key medications are more frequent and prolonged.